The Note of Hand

1774 comedy play

The Note of Hand

Written by| Richard Cumberland
Date premiered| 9 February 1774
Place premiered| Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London
Original language| English
Genre| Comedy
Setting| Newmarket, present day

The Note of Hand, or Trip to Newmarket is a 1774 comedy play by the British writer Richard Cumberland. A farce it was the final play performed by David Garrick at the Drury Lane Theatre in London before his retirement. The Irish premiere took place at the Capel Street Theatre in Dublin on 10 March 1774.[1] The original London cast included John Palmer as Revell, Samuel Cautherley as Rivers, Thomas Jefferson as Elder Rivers, John Moody as O'Connor MacCormuck, William Palmer as Francis, James William Dodd as Sapling, James Wrighten as Putty and Susan Greville as Mrs Cheveley.

It is set against the backdrop of Newmarket Racecourse. The play mocked some of the leading Whig politicians of the era such as Charles Fox and the Duke of Devonshire. This may have been the cause of Cumberland's dispute with Richard Brinsley Sheridan who was a Whig.[2] Sheridan went on to create a comedy character Sir Fretful Plagiary closely based on Cumberland in the 1779 play The Critic.[citation needed]

## References

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1. ^ Greene p.1522
2. ^ Mudford p.180

## Bibliography

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* Greene, John C. Theatre in Dublin, 1745-1820: A Calendar of Performances, Volume 6. Lexington Books, 2011.
* Mudford, William. The Life of Richard Cumberland. Sherwood, Neely & Jones, 1812.
* Nicoll, Allardyce. A History of English Drama 1660-1900. Volume III: Late Eighteenth Century Drama. Cambridge University Press, 1952.

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Richard Cumberland

Plays|

* The Brothers (1769)
* The West Indian (1771)
* The Fashionable Lover (1772)
* The Choleric Man (1774)
* The Note of Hand (1774)
* The Battle of Hastings (1778)
* The Walloons (1782)
* The Mysterious Husband (1783)
* The Carmelite (1784)
* The Natural Son (1784)
* The Country Attorney (1787)
* The Impostors (1789)
* The School for Widows (1789)
* The Box-Lobby Challenge (1794)
* The Jew (1794)
* The Dependent (1795)
* First Love (1795)
* The Wheel of Fortune (1795)
* The Days of Yore (1796)
* Don Pedro (1796)
* False Impressions (1797)
* The Last of the Family (1797)
* The Eccentric Lover (1798)
* A Word for Nature (1798)
* Joanna of Montfaucon (1800)
* The Sailor's Daughter (1804)
* A Hint to Husbands (1806)
* The Jew of Mogadore (1808)
* The Sibyl (1813)

Novels|

John de Lancaster (1809)

Other|

Portrait of Richard Cumberland (c.1776)

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